Technical Field
The following disclosure relates to an ink-jet printer configured to perform printing by ejecting ink from nozzles.
Description of the Related Art
There is known an ink-jet printer configured to perform printing by ejecting ink from nozzles. For instance, the known ink-jet printer includes six heads arranged in a direction (hereinafter referred to as “scanning direction) orthogonal to a sheet conveyance direction and a carriage unit for moving the heads in the scanning direction. Each of the six heads has two nozzle rows. Each nozzle row is formed by a plurality of nozzles arranged at a predetermined nozzle pitch. The nozzles of one of the two rows and the nozzles of the other of the two rows are disposed so as to be shifted relative to each other in the conveyance direction by a distance corresponding to half the nozzle pitch.
In the known ink-jet printer described above, six nozzle rows of left-side three heads in the scanning direction respectively eject light cyan ink, light magenta ink, magenta ink, cyan ink, yellow ink, and black ink in the order from the left, and six nozzle rows of right-side three heads in the scanning direction respectively eject light cyan ink, light magenta ink, magenta ink, cyan ink, yellow ink, and black ink in the order from the right.
In the known the ink-jet printer, the ink is ejected from the nozzles of the six heads while the carriage unit is reciprocated in the scanning direction, whereby printing is performed on a sheet. When printing is thus performed, the ink is ejected from the right-side one of the two nozzle rows of each head while the carriage unit is moved rightward in the scanning direction, and the ink is ejected from the left-side one of the two rows of each head while the carriage unit is moved leftward in the scanning direction. In this instance, the ink is attached to the sheet in the order of light cyan, magenta, yellow, black, cyan, and light magenta anywhere on the sheet, irrespective of the direction of the reciprocating movement of the carriage unit.
Alternatively, the ink is ejected from the left-side one of the two nozzle rows of each head while the carriage unit is moved rightward in the scanning direction, and the ink is ejected from the right-side one of the two nozzle rows of each head while the carriage unit is moved leftward in the scanning direction. In this instance, the ink is attached to the sheet in the order of light magenta, cyan, black, yellow, magenta, and light cyan anywhere on the sheet, irrespective of the direction of the reciprocating movement of the carriage unit.
In the known the ink-jet printer described above, the order of attachment of the ink on the sheet is the same irrespective of the direction of the reciprocating movement of the carriage unit, namely, irrespective of in which one of two directions (rightward and leftward) in the scanning direction the carriage unit moves. It is consequently possible to prevent a printed image from suffering from unevenness in color due to a difference in the order of attachment of the ink on the sheet between the two directions in the scanning direction.